Long Overdue
by Candy888
Summary: In which Sasuke finally apologizes, and a bond is restored. Team Seven is finally back. One-shot of chapter 699, Team Seven-centric, slight sasusaku.


**A/N: My take on Chapter 699. Spoiler alert! you have been duly warned. Mainly team-seven centric, with slight sasusaku. Reviews Welcome!**

**note: this contains direct speaking and thought quotes from various manga chapters, mainly chapter 699.**

**Disclaimer: Why I need one when clearly I do not own these characters or this franchise is beyond my comprehension.**

xX-Xx

_**There they lay, two young men…two souls…**_

Sasuke and Naruto, equal in strength, pain, and loss lay out on the cliff, both staring up at the sky. The Valley of the End. Where, so long ago, Naruto had begged Sasuke to return. To fulfill the promise of a broken girl, only to break apart from each other, severing the bond of friendship and family. And now, both of them having fought to the end, they rested on the cliffside, their lost arms intertwined within the pool of blood, the broken bond between them restored.

_In the Valley of Conclusion…Team 7…Assembles!_

"There they are!" Sakura shouted, leaping down from where she had been frenetically searching with Kakashi. Frantically seeking out her two boys.

"So, they were here, after all…" Kakashi mused to himself. _How ironic. After all this time. A bond severed and restored here. The circle is finally complete._

She neared the spot where the two boys were, concern filling her eyes as she eyed the state the two were in. The multitude of scratches and bruises adorning each of their bodies, as well as their lost arms from the clash of Rasengan and Chidori. _Naruto…Sasuke-kun… _

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto weakly cried out as he spotted her arrival.

_Sakura…! _

Sakura quietly gazed at the two, taking in their severed, but linked arms. Perhaps Team 7 could finally come together once more.

Kneeling down, she began to heal the two of them, hands glowing a gentle green.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned at her. Or, attempted to grin. His facial muscles grimaced at the slight contortion in his position, the various scratches and bruises aching around the edges of his mouth.

Sasuke quietly observed the girl, noting how she was a far cry from her fangirl days. He remembered that there was a time when she would have paid attention to only him. Now it seemed, she gave them both the same determined healing, and provided the same level of compassion. They were family, he realized, all of them precious to each other, and she was the person who kept them all together. She had been the glue; the one who held them close, and supported them throughout all their problems- the backbone while he and Naruto had been at each other's throats.

Even now, as she strove to keep both him and Naruto alive.

_When the going gets tough, the tough get going. _But she stayed. She stayed with him as he traveled along the wrong path, kept going regardless of what had happened to her, constantly trained to prove that **she was not weak**, and forgave him, too many times to count.

While Naruto was the one who had gone through hell and back to try and save him from the dark side, she was the one who had waited. The one who watched their backs as they each strove forwards on their own paths. The one who kept her heart open and accepting despite all of the hurt he had shoved on her.

_If I could have taken all my pain onto myself to comfort you, I would have…_

…_You really are annoying._

Yet she still cared for him, still healed him. _I can see no reason why she would love me…_but she still did. Despite his rejections, time and again.

_Sakura…thank you…for never giving up on me._

_And…I'm sorry. _

"Sakura…I…" Sasuke croaked, trying to convey his message.

"Just shut up for now," the girl replied, eyes never leaving her healing, "I'm concentrating."

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to get out.

"Sorry….for what?" she murmured, head turned away from him. _Sasuke-kun is… sorry? I feel as if… no, don't get your hopes up yet._

"For everything up until now."

_For abandoning you. For almost killing you. For pushing you away. For breaking your heart. Again and again. _

"You'd better damn well be," she responded, words not matching the tears freely running down her face, "Shannaroo…you jerk."

_Thank you…Sakura. I am. _

_I forgive you. Sasuke._

Naruto watched the exchange with a soft smile on his face. _So Sasuke finally apologized, ne? It's about damn time. _

From atop the cliff, Kakashi fondly regarded his team. He recalled the first time he had seen them. Naruto, laughing like an idiot as he shouted and pointed at the chalkboard eraser that had fallen onto Kakashi's head, coating it in white powder. Sakura, seemingly torn between outright panicking and slamming Naruto's head into the nearest wall. And Sasuke, brooding as usual on a nearby seat, mind filled with thoughts of hatred and revenge. The three of them, each separated, not the accomplished team of shinobi he knew they would become. _So divided…_

Then there were the darker times, when Sasuke had strayed over to Orochimaru, consumed with getting revenge, when Naruto had left Konoha to fulfill his promise, when Sakura had been left all alone, gazing at their receding backs in the distance, as she trained day in and day out, waiting for them. Those were the times when the three had become distant. Distant to the point of no return..._yet…_

He watched as Sasuke gave a long overdue apology to Sakura, the two reconciling, at last. He watched as unbidden tears sprung from the corners of Sakura's eyes. He watched as Naruto sat up and grinned at the two, delighted that things were finally, finally, at peace. He watched as the three of them slowly smiled at one another._ Supporting each other as a team. _

_Now they were…_

_Together at last._

"Finally," he said, placing his hita-ate back into its usual position over his left eye, "they're back."

And for the first time in a long time, Team 7 smiled. As one.

xX-Xx

_Naruto…Now I've finally remembered the words you used to say. About that feeling you got when you were together with me must be what it feels like to have a brother…that feeling you were talking about…I think now, I finally get it._

The two boys, no, men, stood up, and clasped their hands together in the seal of reconciliation; it was time to restore the world. Throughout the lands, the roots of the Ten-tails receded, releasing the throngs of people within from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Civilians and ninja alike gasped as they were awoken from their dream-like state, some staring blankly at the reality they had awakened to, others leaning out to support a comrade, or a friend.

_As my journey took me around the world…I would often be reminded of back then._

_Brothers, huh? _Sasuke mused as he contemplated the person beside him. _I never thought we would become this close…that I would become close to anyone, let alone my entire team._

They stood next to one another, hands placed in equal positions, arms forming a bridge, restoring their life-long bond.

_When we were lonely kids starving for love..._

Across the world, in another place, a familiar white-eyed kunoichi awoke from her dream with thoughts about the same person. She blearily opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. Her face tilted towards the sky, lips upturning in a familiar expression, hands clutched against her chest. _I'm glad you're alright, Naruto-kun. _

…_but finding nothing but hatred._

In another part of the world, a man witnessed the final crumbling of a familiar spiral-shaped mask. A hand, no, a claw stretched out towards him. Only to decay and disappear halfway, the cracks and deformities finally overcoming it. Yamato observed as the disintegration of the creature reached his face, the spirals of the enigmatic mask slowly unraveling and breaking off into the roots that had previously ensnared the creature. It was finally no more.

_From there we went our own separate ways…but now as time has passed, I think…_

And around the world, people began to find their own way again. Two familiar yet forgotten faces stumbled out from a brown gourd wrapped within a red cloth. Friends and families found each other within the sea of chaos, stumbling over to one another and crying their eyes out. Life was far from normal, but it would get there. That was the shinobi way. To be rocked with surprise, but recover over time.

_That maybe in the same way…the sufferings my brother passed onto me…I'll come to know your hopes and your pain, Naruto…_

From far away, great mountains and rocky cliffs could be seen falling away to reveal a supernatural presence. Boulders tumbled off of his dusty fur, as he stretched out his limbs from where they had been crushed under the enormous weight. A time-honoured snarl could be seen spread over his snout. Sarsens flew through the air as the great creature stood up at last, pushing himself up on his forearms and peering over the top of the created wreckage at the two who had released him from his prison. The two brothers watched as an infamous orange fox peered over the top of the crumbled mountains.

_Heh...I figured it would be that brat and his duckbutt-hair-damn-Uchiha brother…somehow, the brat never fails to surprise me with what tricks he pulls_

_You never abandoned me, no matter what happened…_

Container and the contained regarded one another in a sense of shared camaraderie. Kurama's notorious snarl elongated into a feral grin. _Guess you kept your promise, brat. I'm actually free from this prison of mine, free like my brothers and sisters, free to leave this wretched planet._

Sensing the tailed beast's thoughts, Naruto's face quirked into a semblance of his everyday grin, not quite as bright or obnoxious, but powerful and happy all the same.

The two extended their arms forward in a semblance of a handshake.

_You should come to hate me for everything I did…yet you never stopped regarding me as a friend…_

From all around, people began to gather to honour and remember the fallen. One grave, in particular was surrounded by friends and family alike, each mourning the loss. The loss of not just a great commander and shinobi, but of a teammate, comrade and friend. Calm in battle, but fiercely protective of those he loved. _We are who we are, and we must live with it… _was what he once said before he changed…_No one can determine another's destiny. _Once he believed himself to be a caged bird, trapped in an inescapable destiny of servitude and submission. However, the cage was unlocked, freeing him from his seals, allowing him to truly grasp the meaning of his life and fly away.

Three other ninja mourned the loss of not only this comrade, but another precious person who had been lost, leaving behind a grieving wife and a daughter who would never come to know her father. Lost to the sacrilegious priest Hidan with his twisted scythe and rituals. _Asuma-sensei…_

Two shinobi and a kunoichi were reminded of the times the four of them had spent together as a team. Team Gai bowed their heads in respect towards the glass plaque and vase of flowers that was the last solid memory of their teammate. Even though they had not been a real team since the war began, the memories stored in each of their minds of the time shared together, and the bonds forged would not let them forget their first days together. _It's been a while since we sparred together. I remember you always told me to watch your back. I'm sorry…My eternal rival! We never got to go through our final youthful battle together. I wish...My most youthful student. You never enjoyed your Springtime of Life. Always so serious; but you learned to smile in the end._

One form of those gathered was particularly mournful, as she recalled his last actions of protecting her. _I miss you…Neji-nii-san. _She took comfort in the figure beside her, a young blond male with his arm around her, as he too recalled Neji's last actions and words. _"Your life is not your own anymore." I know. I am not alone. Funny how you told that to me, when once you were the one suffering from loneliness and a seemingly irrevocable future that you couldn't free yourself from. Are you free, now?_

High overhead, a bird flew by.

_Even as I tried my best to destroy that very feeling._

xX-Xx

Soon, the world managed to pick itself back up onto its feet. Kakashi was made the new Hokage, Tsunade claiming that she was "way too sick of this job" (It's not because I'm old, dammit get back here Naruto!). Sasuke was put onto trial, walking through the village for the first time after so many years. The citizens of Konoha soon brought the booming city back to its former glorified state, using the "Will of Fire" they were reputed for.

Buildings were rebuilt, trees were planted, and the people laughed and talked throughout it all. Life went on, it seemed, even through the most turbulent of times. Rebirth always followed death. From chaos, came civilization.

Five stone faces etched into the mountain stared out into the distance beyond the vast village, each carving telling tales of the great glories and triumphs, as well as the sadness and loss the village had faced time and time again. A sixth engraving joined the five already gathered, the outline of a masked man who was most often seen giggling while holding a dubious orange book. His white hair, although the carving did not show it, stood against gravity, a few spikes falling to the side in a lackadaisical manner. The sun shone down upon his hita-ate which was raised proudly over both eyes (Hey! They got Kakashi-sensei's trademark wrong! ~ Maa, maa it doesn't matter).

Down below at the village gate, three silhouettes stood, two saying farewell to the one who was leaving yet again.

"Well…to be honest…" the taller man with the shock of white hair drawled, "under any normal circumstances you would have been locked away, imprisoned for life…"

The shorter black-haired boy stared at him impassively.

"This is mainly thanks to support from the hero and central force in ending the war, Naruto, and myself as the Sixth Hokage. Make sure you keep that in mind," he continued, lazily narrowed eyes not betraying the true emotion he probably felt (Stupid mask! I can never tell what that pervert is thinking…~ you don't have a problem with this mask do you Naruto? I'll have you know it was a gift from this old lady I helped cross the road after saving her two cats… LIAR!), "So try to keep yourself under control this time, yeah? Cause it'll be my ass on the line this time…"

The third figure, a pink-haired kunoichi with anxious green eyes watched the exchange, mind mulling over something the dark-haired man had said.

"…yeah, sorry," the dark-haired boy replied, looking away.

"You're really gonna leave?" the pink-haired woman blurted out, unable to contain her question any longer, "Tsunade-sama is just about to finish creating your artificial arm out of Hashirama's cells and there's still so much left for you here, and a-and"

The "are you going to leave me, again?" was left unspoken.

"Right now, I need to see the world for myself. I must know what kind of state the world is in," he responded, "I feel like I'm finally able to see all the things I've overlooked and missed up until now."

_Like how deep the bonds between our team were. How I overlooked how you were there for me every time. How I missed the fact that the four of us were family. How I could have rejected all of your concerns, and brushed you away each time._

"And if I don't seize this opportunity…I might miss my chance to see with this kind of clarity again,"

_I might do something unspeakable again. I have to make amends. I can't hurt you anymore._

"On top of that…there's a few things that have been on my mind," he finished, looking her in the eye.

The kunoichi nervously bit her lip, working up her courage. Her head had turned away from him, hair shielding her eyes. A slight blush graced her cheeks.

"Well, what if…I asked you…to take me with you?" she mumbled out, avoiding eye contact with him.

_Don't leave me. Not again. I don't know what I would do if you did._

She looked up, risking a glance at him. His head was bowed, eyes closed in…remorse? Guilt?

"This is a journey of redemption for me. My sins have nothing to do with you," he stated.

_I don't want to hurt you. I don't want you to see how dark I had been, until the light had saved me. I want to protect you from that. You don't deserve to go through all that pain._

"Nothing…to do with me?" she muttered, insecurities returning full-force. _Is that all he thinks I am? Annoying and weak? A burden to him? _Her shoulders trembled slightly, as her emotions began pounding down on her body.

Her white-haired sensei regarded her wavering form, unable to say anything.

Sensing her emotions, the dark-haired man stepped forward, speaking her name. _I won't hurt her again. I won't leave her like this._

"Sakura."

Startled, she peered up into seemingly endless obsidian pools. _Why is Sasuke…so close?_

Sasuke drew his arm out of his cloak and raised it up, unsure himself of what he was going to do. But he knew that she needed reassurance. He reached out towards her, with the intent of comforting her the way Itachi once did, when he was a small child who thought the world of his older brother. He tapped his fingers against her forehead in a manner reminiscent of what his brother used to do, "I'll see you when I'm back."

The girl stilled, eyes widening as she stared at him. _Is that a promise, Sasuke-kun? _

"And…thank you…"

_For everything, I can never thank you enough. _

He said it once. But she heard it forever.

Emotions overcoming her once more, Sakura threw her arms around Sasuke. And, for once, he put his arms around her. _I won't push you away. Not this time, Sakura._

_You better keep your promise Sasuke. I'll be waiting for you._

Unbidden tears dripped from her eyes onto his shoulders as he held her slender frame close to his own. She leaned against him, trusting him to support her as her emotions crashed against each other. Her cheeks were rosy as her arms tightly gripped him, as if trying to keep him from slipping away.

_If I still have a place somewhere in your heart…Don't let it slip away!_

"Come back soon, ne, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said, letting him go. She mustered a smile, not a fake one, but one of true happiness.

"Ah." _I will. _

With that, Sasuke turned around and walked out of Konoha again. But this time, he planned on returning- for this was his home. And for the girl who was waiting for him, again. _I will come back, Sakura. I promise you._

Sakura and Kakashi watched as he receded into the distance, swallowed up by the horizon.

xX-Xx

Sasuke stepped down the path, sandals soundlessly travelling over the ground. He paused, sensing a familiar presence. Tilting his head towards the left, he scrutinised the individual standing there.

"I didn't think you'd come…Naruto."

The boy in question faced him, a slight frown on his face, "Mm…"

He pointedly rubbed his half-missing arm against the tree behind him.

Sasuke looked down, unsure of what he was feeling. The myriad of emotions within him were in a turmoil (Sasuke-teme's just not used to feeling more than 2 different emotions, that bastard!).

"You…you're still at this."

_As my friend…you fought to stop me…and thanks to you, I was saved…we who used to quibble over every little thing…are now able to share the pain in each other's hearts._

And Sasuke was glad for it. In spite of all he had done, no one in his team had given up on him, least of all Naruto, who had fought him each step of the way, trying to save him from himself. Two boys, the best of brothers, who ultimately became stronger than they once were by supporting each other.

Naruto stood up, and offered Sasuke a smirk not unlike Sasuke's own.

_This feeling might not exist just between us, but it might apply to even more things: bigger, greater things…it probably won't go as planned…and it'll get a lot harder…_

He stepped forward, holding an object in his fist. Sasuke examined his old forehead protector in slight surprise. He knew it was his without a doubt; the large scratch across the faded leaf symbol was easily identifiable.

_After all this time, Naruto, you actually kept it?_

Hesitantly, he reached for his forehead protector. He had not worn it in what seemed like a million lifetimes. Not since the first time the two of them had clashed at the Valley of the End. Naruto, yelling at him to return, to fulfill the promise of a broken girl who had begged him to stay. Himself, so blinded by his thirst for revenge that he had turned his back on his friend, no, his brother, and almost killed him, recklessly forgoing all bonds in his quest for power.

"I'm returning this…" Naruto said, knowing the weight of the item he held in his hand.

"I'll hold onto this…until we can finally really settle things between us," Sasuke replied, gradually pulling out the object from Naruto's grasp.

_I'm not going to turn my back on you, or her, this time._

Wind blew past, whirling the leaves through the open air. Brother and brother stood across from each other, both wearing the same expression. Slight upward quirk of the mouth, narrowed eyebrows, and eyes filled with determination to fulfill their promise.

_I think it's a lot like faith, this feeling._

"I will become Hokage, dattebayo! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!"

"Sasuke, I will bring you back! I will shoulder your hatred and die with you! Because I'm your friend! I'm not gonna run away, I never go back on my word! That's my nindō: my ninja way!"

_To keep believing, trying, and enduring until you become able._

"I'm supposed to be a ninja, but all I've ever done is lean on him and cry… I was supposed to change that… I came here and I thought I was ready. But I can't do anything… I can't say anything. The only thing that remains for me… is to believe in them!"

"Naruto, Sasuke…I will catch up to you!"

_Because people entrust us with their hopes, and rely on us to carry on._

"There are many friends I was unable to protect so far…that's why every time I swear that I'll protect them… but then I still happen to face the truth of when I'm not able to do it… you have to take that 'wound' with you forever… that's why we're the one to endure."

_Perhaps that is what makes us ninjas._

…_**Moving forward alongside love and hate.**_

xX-Xx


End file.
